太阳黑子活动对地球地震活动的影响浅析

利用调和分析以及小波分解与重构等信息挖掘方法,对1749年来的太阳黑子月统计数据,1920年来全球地震目录MS6.0以上地震年统计数据,1950年来华北地区ML4.7级以上地震目录,地球自转速率1832—1997年的年统计数据及1962年来的月统计数据,进行对比分析,研究发现:(1)在太阳活动处于强烈期时,地球大震处于高发期且略滞后2～5年,而此时地球自转速率处于减速期,其时间跨度约22年。(2)对于太阳黑子数11年的周期变化,在正常变化下如果处于低值期,期间地球地震活动也将增加,但地震发震时间滞后1～2年。考虑太阳黑子与日冕活动有继承性及延迟性的特点,我们认为引起11年左右的地震群活动可能不是直接受太阳黑子的影响,而是受太阳日冕活动影响。因为日冕抛射物在太阳黑子磁场弱化1年左右时爆发,使得太阳外层扁率增加并经常抛射一次性质量高达1013 kg的物质,从而导致地球自转速率因摄动效应而发生同步性减慢,以及地球地震活动增强。

Solar Forcing on Makkah AI-Mukaramah Flash Floods

Severe solar events manifested by highly energetic X-Ray events accompanied by coronal mass ejections and proton flares caused flash floods in Makkah AI-Mukaramab, A1-Madinah AI-Munawarah and Jeddah. The responses can be prompt, delayed or prompt-delayed, suggesting that the protons entered the troposphere either through the opening of a direct gate in the magnetosphere to the location concer.led due to magnetic reconnection, through the polar gates or through those two paths respectively. The authors suggest that there is a magnetic anomaly in Makkah AI-Mukaramah area which makes it liable to be subjected to flash floods. The width of the solar streams determines the width of the gate opened in the magnetosphere via magnetic reconnection and thus narrow streams affect only one location of the three cities while extended width streams can cause flash floods in all of Makkah AI-Mukaramah AI-Madinah AI Munawarah and Jeddah. In addition, the November 24-26 Jeddah flash flood could be attributed to a prompt event due to a moderately fast solar stream that arrived the earth on those days.

Dynamic variations of the outer radiation belt during magnetic storms for 1.5–6.0 MeV electrons

The CME’s structure of solar wind(interplanetary magnetic field)is different from CIR’s.The two processes in which plasma and solar wind energy are injected into the Earth’s inner magnetosphere are not the same.So,the variations of energetic elec- trons flux in the radiation belts are different between the storms associated with CMEs and CIRs.By using data from SAMPEX(Solar,Anomalous,and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer)satellite,we have investigated the dynamic variations of the outer radiation belt for 1.5–6.0 MeV electrons during 54 CME-driven storms and 26 CIR-driven recurrent storms.According to the superposed epoch analysis,for CME-and CIR-driven storms,when the Dst index reaches the minimum,the locations of the outer boundary move to L=4 and L=5.5,respectively.In the recovery phases,the locations of the outer boundary of the outer radiation belt are generally lower than and slightly higher than those before CME-and CIR-driven storms,respectively.We have found that the logarithmically decaying 1/e cut-off L-shell is a satisfying indicator of the outer boundary of the outer radiation belt.Furthermore,our study shows that the logarithmically decaying 1/e cut-off latitude is dependent on the Kp index in the main phases of CME-and CIR-driven storms,while in the recovery phases,there is no obvious correlation.In ad- dition,it has been shown that the locations of the peak electron flux are controlled by the minimum Dst index in the main phases of CME-driven storms.The influences of multiple storms on the electron flux of outer radiation belt have also been in- vestigated.

Case study of ionospheric fluctuation over mid-latitude region during one large magnetic storm

From Nov. 6 to 10, 2004, a large number of solar events occurred, which triggered many solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). These CMEs caused two large geomagnetic storms and continuous energy proton events. During this period, one large positive ionospheric storm happened over the East-Asian region on Nov. 8, 2004. On Nov. 10, 2004, a strong spread-F was observed by the ionosonde located in the mid-latitude region of East China and Japan, and the ionospheric fluctuation over the ionosonde stations derived from GPS observation was also obvious. In this report, the characteristics of the spatial distribution of the ionosphere fluctuation and its temporal evolution are studied using the parameter of the rate of total electron content (ROT) derived from dual-frequency GPS measurement. Strong fluctuating activity of the ionosphere was found over the mid-latitude region in the southern and northern hemispheres between longitudes of 100°E and 180°E during the magnetic storm period on Nov. 10, 2004, and a regular movement of the disturbing region was observed. In the end, the reason of the ionospheric fluctuation during this magnetic storm is analyzed.

Cluster of solar active regions and onset of coronal mass ejections

round-the-clock solar observations with full-disk coverage of vector magnetograms and multi-wavelength images demonstrate that solar active regions(ARs) are ultimately connected with magnetic field. Often two or more ARs are clustered, creating a favorable magnetic environment for the onset of coronal mass ejections(CMEs). In this work, we describe a new type of magnetic complex: cluster of solar ARs. An AR cluster is referred to as the close connection of two or more ARs which are located in nearly the same latitude and a narrow span of longitude. We illustrate three examples of AR clusters, each of which has two ARs connected and formed a common dome of magnetic flux system. They are clusters of NOAA(i.e., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) ARs 11226 & 11227, 11429 & 11430, and 11525 & 11524. In these AR clusters, CME initiations were often tied to the instability of the magnetic structures connecting two partner ARs, in the form of inter-connecting loops and/or channeling filaments between the two ARs. We show the evidence that, at least, some of the flare/CMEs in an AR cluster are not a phenomenon of a single AR, but the result of magnetic interaction in the whole AR cluster. The observations shed new light on understanding the mechanism(s) of solar activity. Instead of the simple bipolar topology as suggested by the so-called standard flare model, a multi-bipolar magnetic topology is more common to host the violent solar activity in solar atmosphere.

Origin and structures of solar eruptions Ⅰ: Magnetic flux rope

Coronal mass ejections(CMEs) and solar flares are the large-scale and most energetic eruptive phenomena in our solar system and able to release a large quantity of plasma and magnetic flux from the solar atmosphere into the solar wind. When these high-speed magnetized plasmas along with the energetic particles arrive at the Earth, they may interact with the magnetosphere and ionosphere, and seriously affect the safety of human high-tech activities in outer space. The travel time of a CME to 1 AU is about 1–3 days, while energetic particles from the eruptions arrive even earlier. An efficient forecast of these phenomena therefore requires a clear detection of CMEs/flares at the stage as early as possible. To estimate the possibility of an eruption leading to a CME/flare, we need to elucidate some fundamental but elusive processes including in particular the origin and structures of CMEs/flares. Understanding these processes can not only improve the prediction of the occurrence of CMEs/flares and their effects on geospace and the heliosphere but also help understand the mass ejections and flares on other solar-type stars. The main purpose of this review is to address the origin and early structures of CMEs/flares, from multi-wavelength observational perspective. First of all, we start with the ongoing debate of whether the pre-eruptive configuration, i.e., a helical magnetic flux rope(MFR), of CMEs/flares exists before the eruption and then emphatically introduce observational manifestations of the MFR. Secondly, we elaborate on the possible formation mechanisms of the MFR through distinct ways. Thirdly, we discuss the initiation of the MFR and associated dynamics during its evolution toward the CME/flare. Finally, we come to some conclusions and put forward some prospects in the future.

Numerical experiments of disturbance to the solar atmosphere caused by eruptions

Despite extensive research on various global waves in solar eruptions, debate continues on the intrinsic nature of them. In this work, we performed numerical experiments of the coronal mass ejection with emphases on the associated large-scale MHD waves. A fast-mode shock forms in front of the flux rope during the eruption with a dimming region following it, and the development of a three-component structure of the ejecta is observed. At the flank of the flux rope, the slow-mode shock and the velocity vortices are also invoked. The dependence of the eruption energetics on the strength of the background field and the coronal plasma density distribution is apparent： the stronger the background field is, and/or the lower the coronal plasma density is, the more energetic the eruption is. In the lower Alfven speed environment, the slow mode shock and the large scale velocity vortices may be the source of the EIT wave. In the high Alfvdn speed environment, on the other hand, the echo due to the reflection of the fast shock on the bottom boundary could be so strong that its interaction with the slow mode shock and the velocity vortices produces the second echo propagating downward and causing the secondary disturbance to the boundary surface. We suggest that this second echo, together with the slow shock and the velocity vortices, could constitute a possible candidate of the source for the EIT wave.

Recent advances in solar storm studies in China

"Solar storm" has been commonly accepted by academic community and the public as a very popular scientific term. It is avivid description of violent ejections of a huge amount of magnetized plasma from the Sun as strong flare/CMEs, which sweepover into interplanetary space, develop, and affect our space environment. The solar storm could bring us disastrous spaceweather, destroy crucial technology, and cause a large-scale blackout. It is one of the natural disasters faced by modern humanbeings. Here we first briefly summarize the observational features of solar storms and introduce some key issues, and then wefocus on major advances in observational studies. We mainly introduce the efforts made by the Chinese scientists and comment on the challenges and opportunities that they are facing. In this era when scientific breakthroughs in solar storm studiescrucially depend on space-borne devices and large-aperture ground-based telescopes, the Chinese solar research communityneeds to develop its own major observational facilities and improve space weather forecasting abilities.

Particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere

In the solar system, our Sun is Nature's most efficient particle accelerator. In large solar flares and fast coronal mass ejections(CMEs), protons and heavy ions can be accelerated to over ~GeV/nucleon. Large flares and fast CMEs often occur together. However there are clues that different acceleration mechanisms exist in these two processes. In solar flares, particles are accelerated at magnetic reconnection sites and stochastic acceleration likely dominates. In comparison, at CME-driven shocks,diffusive shock acceleration dominates. Besides solar flares and CMEs, which are transient events, acceleration of particles has also been observed in other places in the solar system, including the solar wind termination shock, planetary bow shocks, and shocks bounding the Corotation Interaction Regions(CIRs). Understanding how particles are accelerated in these places has been a central topic of space physics. However, because observations of energetic particles are often made at spacecraft near the Earth,propagation of energetic particles in the solar wind smears out many distinct features of the acceleration process. The propagation of a charged particle in the solar wind closely relates to the turbulent electric field and magnetic field of the solar wind through particle-wave interaction. A correct interpretation of the observations therefore requires a thorough understanding of the solar wind turbulence. Conversely, one can deduce properties of the solar wind turbulence from energetic particle observations. In this article I briefly review some of the current state of knowledge of particle acceleration and transport in the inner heliosphere and discuss a few topics which may bear the key features to further understand the problem of particle acceleration and transport.